I think it's possible, if this hypothetical Java had strong corporate backing. I'm not sure Oracle could do it, but if it came out of Google, I bet it would catch on. The language Go has shown you can release a language no one really needs (sorry enthusiasts, just my opinion) that will still be successful.
Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
31–40 of 57 posts
Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#32Honestly, as it currently stands, Java appears to me as merely a pared down version of C#. C# shares nearly all of the same major features, while adding in more useful ones like properties and Linq, plus the promise of many new features on the horizon, like the null propagating operator. All of those, plus the rest of Microsoft's development ecosystem, make it a much nicer language overall. The only reason I don't th…
Wasn't C# developed after Microsoft failed to buy Java from Sun?
Worse, they took Java, put Windows only stuff in it, and Sun sued them...
Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#33As is yes, as was would sink without trace.
...but the stack trace would still be visible from outer space.
Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#34Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#35Maybe. Java does one thing really well - marketing. Primarily to schools. It's hard to compete with a language that every graduate knows, and worse, it's the only one they "know."
Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Worse, they took Java, put Windows only stuff in it, and Sun sued them...
Do you have any links / sources to back this story up? I haven't heard about this before.
This was back in the 90s, when Microsoft had their own JVM and own version of java called j++
Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Worse, they took Java, put Windows only stuff in it, and Sun sued them...
Do you have any links / sources to back this story up? I haven't heard about this before.
I hesitate to pull the "Google is your friend" card, but this is one of those stories that's so well documented that a three word query will keep you reading relevant articles all weekend.
Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
The only connection between Java and JavaScript is that JavaScript stole Java's name as a marketing ploy for Netscape scripting. (I would call JS a competitor to Java applets, but it wasn't even that. It was a complementary technology.) And "mainstream" only referred to marketing budget. Perl and Python and Tcl had already launched (Perl and Tcl quite popular for the era.) Java's main novelty was the relatively stron…
To further that point, JavaScript is more similar to Scheme if anything.
Even more ridiculous is that JavaScript and Java are the same age.
Re: Ask HN: Would Java make it if introduced today?
#39Instead of answering the question, I'd like to point out how different the world of programming might look today WITHOUT Java. Java was the first maintstream GC language (no more malloc), fully object oriented and the first byte code based VM language. Prior to Java, you were either writing in interpreted languages like Perl or in C/C++. Java brought programming to a higher standard with clear syntax, easy of use and…
There were plenty of other languages with GC. Perl for example. Not sure what "full object oriented" means but I think smalltalk might count? Also plenty of byte code languages. In fact VB was a bytecode language.
I also don't believe Java had any influence on JavaScript except for using the name for marketing